5 Foods You Should Grow in Your Own Backyard

Say you live in a high-rise apartment. You can still exercise your green thumb with an herb garden. Herb gardens are easy and useful to grow indoors, and if you really want a lot of herb for a little work, make it basil. Fresh basil in the supermarket is expensive, and all good foodies know that the dried stuff is lackluster at best. So why not grow it yourself?

Since basil likes attention and hates cold temperatures, it's perfect for growing indoors. Plant it in a medium-sized pot by a sunny window in the kitchen, and you can snip off the leaves for cooking as you need them. This isn't just for convenience -- continuously cutting young leaves also encourages new growth. Unlike other herbs, basil will resent most attempts at preservation. Keep it out of the refrigerator or freezer, and don't bother trying to dry it. Instead, try blending the leaves in a food processor, then preserving them in olive oil to increase their lifespan.

Did You Know?

Herbs aren't just for eating. Many herbs, in addition to smelling fantastic, repel annoying insects. Rosemary and lavender can act as moth repellents when dried, sewn into sachets and tucked in drawers with wool clothes. Pennyroyal mint repels fleas and ticks (just don't rub it directly into your pet's skin), while crushed lavender and lemon thyme repel mosquitoes.